Month: April 2015
How to protect yourself against credit card hacks
As per a Consumer Reports Survey carried out in 2012, 22.5% out of five thousand consumers who have received notice of a security breach have found out that they were victims of identity fraud. There are certain actions that you might take to protect yourself in case you find out that your account has been subject to a data breach.
Get a Replacement Card
If you have been informed that you are involved in a data breach, immediately demand that the company get you a new card or you would close down the account. The company should be able to meet your demand.
Daily Check Your Account Online
Finding suspicious activities and disputing them promptly is the best way to be able to solve any issue. Check your account everyday when your new card arrives for a least one month.
Freeze your credit
If you find out that you are the victim of a data breach, you can call the three main credit bureaus and request to freeze your credit report. This would ensure that nobody would have access to your report without your prior consent. In extreme cases of real breaches, you could also freeze your accounts.
Order your credit reports
As per the law, you are eligible to one free credit report each year. If you are a victim of fraud, you would probably to eligible for more regular free reports. Even if you have not been a victim yet, you might be cautious by getting reports every quarter year.
Investment tips for beginners
Investing can be an intimidating process for beginners. The following tips could be helpful to ease up the process.
- Choosing the right investment partner
The most crucial choice when it comes to investment revolves around which brokerage company to solicit. This is an important decision as it will impact on the amount paid in fees, the type of investments that you would be proposed and the expected returns on investment that you would get. A good long-term solution is to choose a discount broker. Choosing one that would not charge high fees and charge low commissions would be ideal. Brokers that offer mutual funds or ETFs (exchange-traded funds) without charging for a commission are perfect for beginners.
- Start with basic funds
Mutual funds and ETFs are great for beginners. The advantage of these funds is that they would split your investment across several stocks. This creates a buffer for risks associated with the downfall of any given individual stock. Mutual funds and ETFs are ideal if you want to learn about investment. Some target-date mutual funds offer the advantage of automatic computation of the risk level associated with your investment as you approach the goal you had set (such as your retirement, for instance).
- Opt for safer stocks
Safer stocks can come in the form of consumer staple products such as food, clothing and medical supplies. These stocks tend to be less volatile as even when the economy is tough, people would still be looking for buy those products. These stocks have a good long-term prospects but require patience to yield their return.
How to Fight a Dispute Over Materials
If you know anything about construction, it’s that problems arise.
Imagine you are working on a skyscraper project and you are the structural steel expert.
A shipment of steel was supposed to arrive from Pittsburgh. Emphasis on “supposed to arrive,” because it didn’t. Turns out, the order didn’t go through, and this is the fault of the steel supplier. They are denying any fault.
Time is running out and you are facing deadlines regarding the original project. What is the best action to take?
If you attempt construction claim preparation on your own, are you prepared to sink the man hours needed to complete the claim adequately? Or maybe it’s better to wait for the next shipment of steel to arrive?
The best answer for the structural steel expert in distress is this: resolve the problem! Everything else is details, and it’s management’s goal to help resolve the problem and put everyone back to work.
Now, preparing a claim might be necessary, and it might be the best step. If anything a claim is a solid way to document that something happened that was not the structural steel expert’s fault. So, claim preparation might be a wise step. But if all this distracts you as a builder from the process of completing your other projects on time, you must also be wary of the penalties of going past a deadline.
If fines are more expensive than a lawsuit, go with the lawsuit. If the lawsuit is more expensive than taking some late fees, take some more time to work with the company that made the mistake.
Bio: Lyle Charles Consulting specializes in commercial and residential construction, and Lyle Charles is a structure steel expert and certified expert witness.
How to Solve Financial Shortfalls
If you notice a financial shortfall after calculating your expected expenses, you might have to find solutions in order to eliminate it. Several possibilities might be presented to you and you might have to adapt your solutions as per your situation. The guide below might help you come up with ideas to raise some extra funds.
Reconsider your expenditures
You might wish to go through your expenditure again and to try to eliminate anything that feels unnecessary. However, there are certain expenses that you must not drop. For instance, you might feel tempted to drop your insurance coverage, but dropping them now might be turn out to be problematic in the future. And this decision might turn out to be detrimental in the future.
Review bills and find out how to save
Take a moment to review each of your bills and think about ways to reduce your expenses. You may gather around with your family to decide how you may save on groceries, clothes and other items. You might have to change some of your consumer habits.
Consider your employment
To eliminate certain financial shortfalls, you might think about working extra hours or doing a part-time activity. If your children are teens, you might encourage them to find a job to be able to earn some extra pocket money.
Start Keeping a Log
The log would help you keep track of your expenditure and find out where the money goes. It might be some expensive lunch that you tend to forget about or a habit that has become part of your routine, such as smoking. It could be useful to note these down.